[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1687-1688]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-343]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0986; FRL-9617-1]
EPA Workshops on Achieving Water Quality Through Integrated
Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Plans Under the Clean Water Act
(CWA)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency is holding a series of
workshops to solicit the individual views of stakeholders on the use of
integrated municipal stormwater and wastewater plans to meet the water
quality objectives of the CWA. The workshops are intended to assist EPA
in developing an integrated planning approach framework that could be
used to help municipalities prioritize their infrastructure investments
in order to maximize water quality benefits and consider various
innovative approaches, such as green infrastructure, that may be more
sustainable. The workshops will include a facilitated discussion with
representatives of organizations that represent elected local
officials, publicly owned treatment works (POTW), municipal stormwater
managers, state NPDES permitting and enforcement authorities, and
environmental advocacy groups. EPA invites other interested members of
the public to observe the workshops and to offer verbal comments at
designated times during the workshops.
In addition to submitting information at the listening sessions,
the public may also provide input to the Agency through email, fax or
mail.
DATES: EPA is asking for statements and input from the interested
public on or before February 29, 2012. The dates for the workshops are
provided below.
ADDRESSES: Submit your statements or input, identified by Docket ID No.
EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0986, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting input.
Email: OW-Docket@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OW-2011-0986.
Fax: (202) 566-9744.
Mail: Water Docket, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Mail code: 4203M, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460.
Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0986.
Hand Delivery: Water Docket, EPA Docket Center, EPA West
Building Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC,
Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0986. Such deliveries are only
accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your input to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-
0986. EPA's policy is that all input received will be included in the
public docket without change and may be made available online at
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided,
unless the input includes information claimed to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or email. The
www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which
means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you
provide it in the body of your input. If you send an email with input
directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov your email
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the
input that is placed in the public docket and made available on the
Internet. If you submit an electronic input, EPA recommends that you
include your name and other contact information in the body of your
input and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your
input due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your input. Electronic
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional
information about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center
homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this
notice, contact Kevin Weiss, EPA Headquarters, Office of Water, Office
of Wastewater Management at tel.: (202) 564-0742 or email:
weiss.kevin@epa.gov.
Workshop Dates and Addresses: The workshops will be held on the
following dates at the listed locations:
January 31, 2012, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at EPA Region 4
Office, 61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, GA 30303;
February 6, 2012, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at EPA Region 2
Office, 290 Broadway, New York, NY 10007-1866;
February 13, 2012, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at EPA Region 10
Office, 1200 Sixth Avenue Seattle, WA 98101;
February 15, 2012, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at EPA Region 7
Office, 901 N. 5th Street Kansas City, KS 66101; and
February 17, 2012, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at EPA Region 5
Office, 77 West Jackson Boulevard Chicago, IL 60604-3507.
If you plan to participate in a workshop as an observer, whether or
not you plan to make verbal comments, EPA requests that you preregister
by January 20, 2012 at http://www.epa.gov/npdes/integratedplans.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Since the passage of the CWA, great progress has been made toward
restoring the nation's waters. Many more streams, rivers and bays are
fishable and swimmable than 40 years ago. During this time, the overall
number of people served by municipal wastewater treatment facilities
that either do not discharge or provide at least secondary treatment
increased from 84.1 million in 1972 to 222.5 million in 2008. In
addition, many municipalities have begun to make significant
investments in advanced treatment, controlling combined sewer overflows
(CSOs) and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and are beginning to address
water quality problems associated with stormwater.
While significant progress has been made in reducing pollutant
discharges, much work remains to be done to restore impaired waters.
The challenges municipalities face in making additional water quality
improvements are particularly complex. Providing advanced treatment for
nutrients and controlling combined sewer overflows (CSOs), sanitary
sewer overflows
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(SSOs), and stormwater can present difficult and expensive engineering
challenges. Population growth, aging infrastructure, and the current
economic challenges are stressing many municipalities that are
implementing CWA programs. Many state and local governments face
difficult financial conditions. Their ability to finance improvements
by raising revenues or issuing bonds has been significantly impacted
during the ongoing economic recovery. EPA is committed to work with
States and municipalities to improve how CWA programs are implemented
to ensure continued progress in public health and environmental
protection.
EPA believes that integrated planning can better meet America's
clean water objectives, create jobs and strengthen our economy by
offering municipalities an opportunity to meet their CWA requirements
in a more cost-effective manner. To encourage integrated planning
efforts, on October 27, 2011, EPA's Office of Water and Office of
Enforcement Compliance and Assurance issued a joint memorandum to the
EPA Regions that expresses the Agency's commitment to and support for
integrated approaches to municipal stormwater and wastewater
management. The integrated approach provides interested municipalities
with an opportunity to develop a comprehensive plan that balances
competing CWA requirements and allows municipalities to focus their
resources on the most pressing public health and environmental
protection issues first. The integrated approach is voluntary and the
responsibility to develop an integrated plan rests with municipalities.
The integrated planning approach maintains existing regulatory
standards for the protection of public health and water quality. The
approach takes advantage of the flexibilities in existing EPA
regulations, policies and guidance to allow municipalities to sequence
implementation of their CWA obligations to focus on the highest
priorities first. EPA and/or the State will work with municipalities
who are interested in this concept to develop appropriate requirements
and schedules.
As part of the integrated approach, EPA encourages municipalities
to pursue more innovative approaches such as green infrastructure
technologies and asset management or similar utility-wide planning
approaches. EPA has strongly encouraged these innovative approaches for
several years. Many cities and communities have implemented green
infrastructure approaches and are starting to see that the value of
such projects goes beyond protecting water resources. In addition to
improving water quality, green infrastructure also makes communities
more livable by providing opportunities for greenways and multiuse
recreational areas, improves property values, saves energy and creates
green jobs. On April 29, 2011, EPA released the Strategic Agenda to
Protect Waters and Build More Livable Communities Through Green
Infrastructure. The Strategic Agenda outlines activities that EPA is
taking to help communities implement green infrastructure approaches.
This Strategy is intended to advance the wider use of green
infrastructure within the regulatory and enforcement contexts through
improvements in outreach and information exchange, financing, and tool
development and capacity building. EPA continues to work closely with
State and local governments to incorporate green infrastructure
approaches within permits and enforcement actions.
II. Purpose of the Workshops on Integrated Municipal Stormwater and
Wastewater Plans
In conjunction with the October 27, 2011 memorandum, EPA is
developing a framework document that will more fully describe the
integrated planning concept that could be used to help EPA work with
State and local governments toward providing for cost-effective,
integrated solutions to multiple causes of water pollution. The Agency
anticipates that the framework document will identify and clarify
overarching principles that EPA and states will use in working with
municipalities to implement an integrated approach as well as guiding
principles that EPA recommends municipalities use in the development of
their integrated plans. The framework document will identify the key
elements that EPA anticipates will be in an effective integrated plan.
The framework will also discuss the appropriate roles of permit and
enforcement authorities in addressing the regulatory requirements
identified in the plan.
EPA will hold five workshops to discuss a draft of the integrated
planning framework. The workshops will be facilitated discussions with
individuals from a range of stakeholder groups to assist EPA in
developing the framework through gaining better understanding of their
individual perspectives. EPA is not seeking group recommendations, but
rather seeks to hear from individuals with different perspectives.
Prior to these meetings, EPA will post a draft of the framework
document at http://www.epa.gov/npdes/integratedplans. The draft
framework posted on EPA's Web site will be updated as appropriate.
III. Participation in the Workshop
Members of the public are welcome to participate as observers in
the workshop. The agenda will be structured to invite specific verbal
comments from observers on key issues. If you plan to participate as an
observer at the workshop, whether or not you plan to make verbal
comments, in order that EPA may properly anticipate the correct number
of people, EPA requests that you preregister by January 20, 2012 at
http://www.epa.gov/npdes/integratedplans.
Authority: Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.
Dated: January 3, 2012.
Nancy K. Stoner,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2012-343 Filed 1-10-12; 8:45 am]
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